Original.
Part 1.
Part 2.

Time of audition. July 31st 2008 (11 years old).

*July 30th, she passed the final examination of the 1st SKE48 auditions, and become an SKE member (out of 2670 people, originally 22 people passed). At the time she was the youngest at 11 years old. “When I took the auditions, I was in 6th grade primary school. It was only older girls all around me, but I remember that serving as an incentive instead.”

*Akimoto Yasushi: “In the SKE auditions she was number 49, second to last. And so, when her turn came, her karaoke song didn’t show up. With that the no. 50 girl became no. 49 and Jurina became the last. Because I didn’t know of that fact, I had the idea for SKE planned out already, just as I thought about that, she came out at the very end, and I found she had an amazing star nature to her. Number 49 and number 50 are completely different aren’t they. After all in our job, it’s not just about things like skill or hard work or talent, but rather I feel luck plays a big role too. I thought what happened was really amusing. Also, AKB had just started steadily increasing its sales, and I’m not saying this about anyone in particular, but it felt like they had started to slacken. If I were a shepherd, it felt as if the sheep had gone loose. If a completely different sheep came in here, I thought that might get them to tighten up.”

*On that day, at the AKB theater a Team A performance was taking place but, after the final song, there was a phone call from Akimoto Yasushi who had been in Nagoya judging. And so he reported the following, “In the final auditions there was an amazing girl. She’s definitely going to become a star. She’s a raw ore.” Of course the “ore” referred to Matsui Jurina.

*At the same time, Akimoto was already thinking of adding her to the next single’s senbatsu, and debuting her as a center. He also made it so that she’d be the only one on the jacket. He thought the fans’ “what just happened?” reaction would be amusing.

*August, the start of lessons in preparation for their theater debut 2 months later. She was immediately selected as center. “Rather than feeling pressured, I kept wondering why it was me. I wondered if it was really okay to pick me.”

*August 2nd, she participated in the recording for AKB48′s first program “AKBINGO!” along with Oya Masana (air date was August 25th).

*August 23rd, SKE48 made a guest appearance at AKB48′s live. Performing A1st’s “PARTY ga Hajimaru yo”, it was her first time standing on a stage.

*August, AKB48 members were told about Jurina’s selection as a senbatsu member for the new single, which was to be released in October. The situation around the the time they heard the announcement; Takahashi Minami: “In the place where the members’ names are written there was a “Matsui Jurina” name. When we were discussing “Who is Matsui Jurina?” Acchan (Maeda Atsuko) went, “They said she’s an SKE girl. Looks like she’ll be center.” Everyone went “Eh?!” at that. I too started having mixed feelings then…”
Maeda: “Beforehand, I was told “Do your best with Jurina as a double center.” by Akimoto-sensei. But to be honest, “What am I supposed to work hard in I wonder?” was how it felt. I think I answered with a tentative “yes” though. The girls (AKB members) whose ages were close to Jurina might have been conscious about the whole thing. But in my case, it felt as if I had gained a much younger junior. But the fans were comparing us (after the single’s release) a lot more than I had expected, and that kinda confused me.”

*September, joining the dance lessons a bit later than the rest of the AKB members. “Nice to meet you, I’m Matsui Jurina. I look forward to working with you.” She greeted by saying that and bowing down over 90 degrees. The impression Minegishi Minami had when she first saw Jurina; “I thought she was sharp. To me that seemed like ‘I’ve become center by doing as much as possible.’ Usually, at first one would be frightened right. But when I saw her standing tall, I thought “that’s impressive.” Even though 11 years old is young, at that time, I thought she was probably appropriate as center. It’s not that I felt that “I lost” but, I thought “Even if she stood as center it won’t cause an unfavorable comparison.” from an objective point of view.”

*After the beginning of the lessons; Takahashi: “While the 11 year old Jurina was entrusted with the important role of being center, I saw her working extremely hard… It made me think that both AKB and SKE had to get united to move on forward.” As for the Jurina who had managed to make the AKB members think like that: “At first I was simply happy about it. But right before the lessons, I started growing worried. Thinking “Is it okay for me to show up even though it’s an AKB song?” or “I wonder if we can get along.” or “I wonder if I’ll be able to dance and sing properly.” and so on… I kept crying in front of the SKE48 staff. Especially when SKE48′s theater debut was nearing, I couldn’t really practice properly and I panicked. But I would definitely never cry in front of the SKE members. During our very first lesson there was something we all agreed on, it was “to surpass AKB!”. That’s why even though I was worried, I thought “The fact that I’ll be in AKB’s song, it’ll become for the sake of the goal we all set.” and “It won’t be for me alone, but for the sake of getting SKE48′s existence known.”.”

Theater debut (October 5th 2008).

*October 5th, SKE48 1st Stage “PARTY ga Hajimaru yo” performances start, she makes her theater debut.

*October 22nd, AKB48′s 10th single “Oogoe Diamond” with Jurina as center goes on sale. Being treated as a main character in the PV, as well as having her solo shot on the jacket, she made for a brilliant debut. Entering senbatsu at age 11 years and 228 days, she broke the youngest record that AKB48′s Oku Manami held (at age 11 years and 237 days). According to her, she screamed “Shinoda-sa~n” for that jacket shot (but if you watch the making of footage from the bonus video on the “Pareo wa Emerald” single, she screams “Mariko-sama~”).

*For the AKB fans it became a shocking debut but, opinions varied about the sudden huge push. From the older fans, it was possibly more of a “no” reaction. “Why is there an SKE member in AKB’s new song?”, “What can this kid possibly do.”, such voices were murmured around the theater and on the net. However as a result they got their highest record on Oricon at 3rd place, and sales increased a lot too. Of course aside from Jurina there were the recently promoted 5th generation research students in AKB who had their first senbatsu participation too, and because there is the song’s quality to take into consideration one can’t say it was all because of Jurina but, with this single, as well as the fact that she was placed in senbatsu while being from SKE48, it is certain that she had changed something in AKB48.

*Akimoto’s impressions; “The general response was huge too but, what the fans made the biggest fuss about was, “But Matsui is not from AKB48, she’s from SKE48 right?” and it made me go, ah, they’re different aren’t they, I realized that for the first time after releasing the CD (lol). Well, that’s pretty much it (lol)”

*Interviewer: “The fact that SKE’s Jurina was placed as AKB’s center, I found it to be incredibly amusing as a technique.”
Akimoto: “Matsui, she’s cute right? (lol). I was asked “why is it SKE even though it’s an AKB single!” a lot, after I made her center. I figured that was true enough. I figured I should have put “featuring **” or “Matsui Jurina (SKE)” after all. However, I realized that wasn’t something to be all that hung up on really.”

Part 1.

8 months old

*Born on March 8th 1997, in Aichi Prefecture. Single child. Weight was slightly below average at 2600 grams.

*At first, her name was decided as “Juri”. However, because an acquaintance of her mother’s had a child called “Kiri” (it was confusing since it could be read as “Juri” too), they added the “na” character and it became “Jurina”.

1 year old

*Ever since she was born, she was a very good kid, neither crying at night, or acting shy around strangers. “I wonder if I’ve been mature since the moment I was born (lol)”.

*She was a dancing kid since the time she became aware of her surroundings. She likes standing out, and during things like sports festivals she is the type to stand out.

7 years old

*Her first love was during kindergarten. She’d be extremely affectionate, and when her mom would come to her pick her up, she’d hold hands tightly. But at this moment, she’s forgotten both the name and face of that kid.

*The reason she started aiming for showbiz. Ever since nursery school, she’s looked up to singers, and during the graduation ceremony she said “I want to be a singer in the future.”

4th grade primary school

*The fact that she still wet her bed until the early grades of primary school was revealed by her mother.

*She starting learning hip-hop dance around 3rd grade of primary school, and came to like dancing too. Thinking “Singing and dancing is what idols do!”, she started aiming to become an idol.

6th grade primary school

Original.

I realize the western fanbase has far too mistaken an idea of what Matsui Jurina is like, especially those who follow AKB only, so I figured it’s about time I translated a certain wiki page about her. There’s a lot of info in there, the most interesting (in my opinion at least) being the bits from interviews with Yuasa (SKE48 theater’s manager).

The link to the original page in Japanese is at the bottom of this post. The following is a translation of only a small part, outlining Jurina’s personality. I’ll get to the rest of the sections in time.

*Catchphrase is “1, 2, 3, 4, all together[tl note: "go issho ni" is a play on words with the number 5, ie. "go" in Japanese], 6, 7, 8, 9, Jurina~[tl note: another play on words, since 10 in Japanese is "ju" or "jyu"]! I’m Matsui Jurina, 14 years old.” Previous ones were, “I tend to get told by everyone that I look tough, but in truth I’m a lonely grade schooler”, “I’m a little bit more grown up, but my feelings are still a grade schooler’s”, “I love running! I love dancing! And I love everyo~ne too!” etc.

*Official nickname is “Jurina”[tl note: in hiragana instead of kanji]. Her juniors call her “Jurina-san”. Oya Masana calls her “Juribou”[tl note: 坊 is something like kid or boy/sonny]. Yuasa calls her “Abarenbou Sogun”[tl note: 暴れん坊将軍 -> rowdy kid general].

*An ace in the position of SKE48′s and Team S’ center. As a main pillar, she is an essential existence needed by SKE. The theater manager Yuasa Hiroshi has told her, “there is no replacement for you” and “the stage is completely different when you’re there and when you aren’t.”
Jurina: “It does make me feel pressured, but I feel happiness the most when told that.”
Yuasa: “Lately she’s been releasing a certain aura too. Out of all the members she has the highest professional awareness. Jurina = SKE is how it is.”

*She’s well aware of that position of hers, and has the will to carry SKE48 by herself. Her feelings for the theater in particular are the strongest, and she tells members off, regardless of age, if they seem to not have memorized the dances.
Yuasa: “(After finishing a job in Tokyo) even if she goes back to Nagoya staggering, she’d make sure to show up at the theater performances. Yet when she sees a member who hasn’t learned a dance she’d go, ‘Why?! I’m doing both that in Tokyo and this here. Why can’t you do it!’”
She’s the type who can’t forgive the fact that both the team and SKE might be taken lightly because of members not being able to do things. Of course, that’s because she loves SKE more than anyone else, and because she herself doesn’t slack off putting in more effort than anyone else. Members are aware of that, and it is said that no one speaks up against her words.

*However, once she snaps she becomes a wild kid that neither the manager or, needless to say, the members can stop. Even to Yuasa, she’d use strong words and firmly go, “What is this about!” or “I’m begging you!”
Yuasa: “It’s already gotten scary huh (lol)”

*On the other hand, she also has a side befitting of her age, where she gets thoroughly spoiled by the other members.
“This is sudden but, here’s what I like about all the fans! The fact that they understand me better than I do myself. The fact that they like me. In the end, I won’t betray you. Really thank you for everything all the time. But, there’s something I’d like you to understand. Regardless of what’s said, I’m a kid. In more ways than one (lol). That’s why, please look after me properly! Until I grow up, and become a full fledged adult. I do have moments where I feel lonely or sad after all.”
“I’m sorry for having written an extract that made you worry. Those were my honest feelings. But, there is one mistake… I wrote asking for you to look after me until I become a full fledged adult but, even if I were to become a full fledged adult, I’ll still have times when I’ll crash into a wall. That’s what I thought. That’s why, from now onward, please look after me, regardless of whether I’m an adult, or not an idol anymore, or if I’ve become an actress or a singer. It’s because I realized… Human beings can’t do anything when alone.
“Again, I’ve said something that might make you worry but, I realize that any person could have things they like or dislike. That’s the case with me too, and I think it’s the same with fans who have oshimens too. However, is it not possible to express those things with our attitude or looks, or with our words? Even though I kinda think it’s better to express one’s love. Because I don’t think there is anyone who’d consider being told they’re loved as a bad memory! But, don’t you think there’s a difference between liking and being partial? With being partial, neither the person being so, or the person being treated as so, gain anything. That is because, it makes both sides feel bad. The person being partial, will make the people they’re not being partial to feel displeased. The person being treated partially too, will make the people who aren’t being treated the same feel displeased as well. The person who doesn’t get treated as such, will feel really badly about it, and will worry about it at times… I don’t want that kind of thing to happen! At the very least, I’ll try to refrain from doing that both now and when I become an adult too. If there is someone you’re not being partial to, please show that person that you love them too. Even if it’s just one person, as long as there is someone who loves them, that person could be saved. Somehow, that’s the way I’ve started thinking lately. Serious things. Things like people’s feelings, I wonder if I’ve become capable of understanding them… It’s proof that I’ve become an adult isn’t it (lol). It’s an age where you want to speak up isn’t it (lol). There might come a time I write something like this, once again, but please don’t worry about it. In my case, as long as everyone’s there I have nothing to be scared of. That’s why, I have but one request. Let me be spoiled, just a bit more.”

*In SKE she’s in charge of the energetic character. According to Maeda Atsuko, at first she would act mischievously in front of the AKB members too, but suddenly she got serious and started being polite. When Maeda asked, “Did they (the higher ups) tell you anything?” she claimed she wasn’t told anything, but that as she got to know AKB she started feeling respect, and started being polite towards the AKB members.
Maeda: “Despite being 11 years old (at the time) she’s a grown up.”

*She tends to say a lot of puns and old mens’ jokes, but they’re not really effective. She respects Takahashi Minami as her senior in slipping (speech-wise).

*She’s the youngest but, among Team S she’s the tallest. (Her official profile says 160cm but she’s 163cm right now. Her aim is around Shinoda Mariko’s 168cm).

*Because her face is unusually mature, she doesn’t appear her age at first glance. She personally is happy with being called “adult-ish”, but “aged” is taboo. Rather than being considered a pretty girl she’s considered a beauty, she is called “ikemen”[tl note: a hot guy] by Sashihara.

Done x_X Only with part 1 LOL What did I get myself into… Anyway, as biased as some of what you’ve read might sound, there’re actually references to where everything was taken from in the original wiki page, which can be found here. I didn’t bother putting in the reference numbers in the translation, but I think it shouldn’t be hard to pick them up if you’re interested.

Well then, until the next installment… if it ever comes.